Just Desserts
by Yoshida-kun
Summary: Change is constant. However, Add is a variable. Short Story.
1. Just Desserts

**Elsword One-shot: Just Desserts**

 **Author's Note: Inspired by FumeKnight's Cake Helps. You should check it out, it's fun~**

Monday…

It is the day of the week where everything would reset back to its natural state of routine. It is where everyone returns to their usual work or daily routine after a short weekend. It is that day again, where most people are unlikely to come out of their bed as they are either too lazy to do so or the fact that Mondays doesn't actually exist in their weekday timeline.

Either way, it doesn't matter for Add. The mad genius can list 99 facts and reasons about why people hate Mondays. But for him, there's only one reason why he loves this certain day of the week. Some of the people who recognize him are bewildered at the fact that he was able to not only endure the starting day of the week, but he also found meaning for spending his Monday in delight.

Normally, whenever one hears the word Monday, dread is surely thought to crawl in that person's mind. However, the time and space conqueror can only revel and bathe in their dismay as today was all about his indulgence to his favorite place at Velder.

He missed the place a lot after winding up with some tremendous events with the El Search Party. At first, the Esper had gone ballistic over the different dimensions and timelines he had gotten himself out of lunatic fervor. The mad feeling of repeated failure proved to have broken his already dejected sanity to the point that he had no longer wanted to go back in time to save his mother. His original plan from time traveling turned into a series of nightmarish yet entertaining undertakings for Add.

Not many have lived to tell the tale of his horrendous actions in different timelines, but that all changed after unknowingly traveling back to his current timeline. He was confronted by the El Search Party shortly after his display of power at a nearby village, but was incapable of handling them all at once. Once they had a grip of who he really was, the group decided that it was best to help him with his problems, as Add was once their member and friend before he strangely disappeared.

So far, none of them had gotten through his mad intellectual. Some tried, but others just gave up as they only got threats and silent glares from the man. They just couldn't comprehend what was going on with him. But what they didn't know is that Add was just as confused as they were to him. Their appearances somehow changed. It was as if he had gone to a futuristic timeline where everyone was older by a year or two, making it harder for the white haired man to interact with them.

Information says he was indeed on the right timeline, but he figured he had somewhat leaped a bit to the future. So, Add concluded that it was best to avoid any interaction with them at all cost. He didn't want to know or meet them in the first place.

"Ah! Mister, uh, Add! Welcome back!"

As Add finally approached the dead end of his destination, a familiar woman with a short blonde hair spoke up in both excitement and nervousness. The man only smirked in delight upon recognizing who it was.

"Yes… good to be back." Add had remembered her so well. The glasses, the usual simple uniform that they wear every day along with a small red hat and her nervous speaking… Luriel hasn't changed one bit. He took a seat on one of the vacant spots. But as soon as he did, another figure caught his attention.

"Mister Add! It's so great to see you coming back again in the café!" Donning the same outfit of Luriel, another girl with a different hairstyle spoke up across the counter with a smile. The white haired man only nodded in turn. Despite showing no emotions, he was glad to be able to visit the café back where he can relax and just be himself.

"U-uhm, would it be your usual order, Mister Add?" Luriel suddenly asked, seeing as how it was just normal for her to accommodate customers since she was somewhat of a waitress in the café. Add nodded, although this time, with a slight smirk on his face. Luriel couldn't help but fidget back to Ariel to fetch the man's order.

As Add waited, he couldn't help but feel the atmosphere that he had missed for so long. The empty but soothing environment of the COBO café had never failed to uplift his mood. The feeling that he had been longing for was right in this place all along. It held a quaint sentiment in the Esper's heart, as he had first visited this place two years ago. It still had that serene impact on him that makes him want to live life to the fullest again. If only he could do so, however…

"Uh, here's your slice of chocolate cake, Mister Add!" Returning with a plate of dessert on her hand, Luriel gently placed it down on the table. Add took out his coin purse and gave a handful of ED coins to her. In return, Luriel bowed slightly in front of him as her usual gesture before she went back to the counter with Ariel.

… That was supposed to be the case. However, somebody had shortly cleared its throat before Luriel could even move a muscle.

"Excuse me… but I think you're forgetting my slice of cake."

From out of the blue, a lady in her late teens had suddenly appeared on the other side of the table, sitting with her arms crossed against her chest while her legs were crossed in a manner where her other leg was swaying slowly. The discontentment on her face was visible enough to make Luriel squirm and apologize in response.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know Mister Add had company, I'll go get yours, too…" Frantically, she walked back to where Ariel was to get the newcomer's order. The lady's expression slowly eased up to a somewhat boastful smirk as she eyed Add. As for the said Esper, he was not amused to see this all-too-familiar person sitting across the table, in front of him.

He simply chose to ignore her as he tried to eat his dessert in peace. The young woman puffed her cheek in sudden irritation. "Hmph! How dare you ignore me, after all the trouble of following you here!"

Add placed down his fork in a mild manner before staring at the woman in front. After a minute of silence, he took a forkful of cake into his mouth again before speaking.

"… who are you?"

Taken back by his sudden question, the lady retort back with a slightly threatening tone. "Of all names, you chose to forget mine? How rude, I am Lu… you idiot." She grumbled the last bit of words, but Add managed to hear it anyhow. After finishing half of his sliced cake, he answered back nonchalantly.

"Ah, now I remember. You're that brat with a servant."

It was true that he had somewhat forgotten the team ever since they had advanced to greater power. However, he could still somewhat distinguish others a bit. He's just choosing not to mingle with them. As for the woman in front, Add can't properly describe how Lu changed since she had grown up to a young lady with her hair flowing elegantly down to the floor. Everything with her attire had gone a bit… seductive, perhaps? He doesn't know, as he's choosing not to.

Before Lu could address the insult he had said, Luriel came back with the plateful of chocolate cake for Lu. "H-here you go, uh, Miss Lu." She was happy enough to see the chocolate cake prepared for her, but it only made Add sigh in annoyance as he grabbed a handful of ED again to Luriel. "This one's on me, you can leave us now."

The waitress nodded before leaving after. The Esper then turned to face Lu again, only to see her eyes sparkling in delight as she was eating the chocolate cake. He sweat dropped in response.

"Why did you follow me? And where's your butler?"

Waking up from her short trance, Lu blinked back at Add and responded. "Oh, I gave him orders to buy some groceries at the nearby shop. As for following you, well…" She took another piece of cake in her mouth, before continuing speaking. "I'm curious why everyone wants to save you."

Add cocked up an eyebrow in mild disbelief. "Save me? Keh, don't make me laugh. Those stubborn asses can't save me." Lu only giggled at his remark.

"I know we've had the same situation before, but the Elsword and his gang had helped me reclaimed back what I lost."

The Esper frowned as he stared at her. "We're not the same, nor did we have similar losses. And please, they had already given up on me. So there's no point bringing those nosy people in the topic."

She can definitely feel his dark aura slowly seeping out from the topic they're having, but she decided to push further for answers. Lu waved her head for a moment before retorting back. "I see Elesis bugging you constantly. She hasn't given up on you."

"So you've been observing?"

"No, I'm simply stating the obvious."

Add scoffed her statement away with a mocking grin. He was slowly realizing why she was truly here for. "I don't recall you being a saint all of a sudden. There's no point in helping a mad man who doesn't need help." Before Lu could even bother to reply back, the Esper stood up and exited the café without formalities. She could only sigh in defeat before lightening herself up with the cake he had paid for her. Somehow, that small act of kindness—along with the sweet taste of the chocolate cake—proved to have lifted her mood back to its usual state.

As she finished her plate, the door opened for another person. "Lu, I've been looking for you. What were you doing in this establishment?"

Lu frowned a bit, the forkful of cake still in her mouth. "What does it look like? I'm eating cake, you dimwitted servant."

Ciel sat down beside her, his one hand carrying a bag of groceries. "Where's the waiter? I'll go pay for your cake." The Innocent waved his head off dismissively, taking the fork out of her mouth and leaving it on the plate.

"You don't have to. Add already paid for it."

Her servant's expression slowly turned blank upon hearing Add's name. "He was here with you?"

"That's what I just said! Geez, you really need to pay more attention." Finishing her statement, Lu stood up and walked towards the door in a stylish manner.

"Now let's go back, we have a lot of stuff to do." Ciel could only follow her in turn without complain. But he would need to ask why she had magically disappeared a while ago later.


	2. A Table Spoon Of Content

**Note: All of them are in their 3rd job paths. Of course, Add is Mad Paradox. The rest can be in your imagination.**

The sound of bell clanging filled the silent air in the currently busy kitchen. Within a second, a girl roused up from her quick slumber as she immediately rose her upper body up from the table she was previously sleeping on before standing up to get the finished product out of the oven. The girl smiled sweetly in delight as she stared at the cake victoriously.

The smell of freshly baked aroma overflowed all over the place as the young lady gently placed the cake on the table, letting the warmth rest and exude its overwhelming fragrance freely into the atmosphere. Based on her merry gaze, she couldn't be happier about the result of her seemingly restless effort as she wiped a small amount of sweat on her forehead before wearing her trademark confident grin on her face.

Her eyes tell it all about the perfection of her creation as it glimmered in pure delight, her mind internally squealing as the realization slowly sunk in her head… she made a cake. She made it, all by herself… without any help from someone…

…

…

…

As her excitement overwhelmed the young lady, she couldn't help but finally let it all out as she squealed and dance in a manner that one would find childish, yet still find it cute at the same time. Even though she was tired at the moment, she still managed to equip some happiness to her face due to the fact that she had independently made something for someone. After all, it was her first time creating such a pastry… as seen all over her current surroundings.

It was just early in the morning, yet the kitchen was already busy because of a certain succubus once-in-a-blue-moon labor. As opposed to a normal clean and tidy kitchen, this room consisted with icings smeared all over the walls, dusts of flours and sprinkles of different colors decorated the tiled floors, the sink full of empty egg shells, dirty bowls and utensils, while piles of singed and dark pastries with their burnt crispy aroma crammed the already full garbage bin. Crumbs of her failed mess were scattered everywhere on the failure like a splotch of paint on a beautiful portrait… only, it wasn't a masterpiece made by Michael Angelo. It was the work of the prideful succubus, Lu.

Overall, the best description for the place would be an aftermath of a hurricane or a tornado passing by and causing chaos, leaving everything disarrayed in its previous path. Despite her messy surroundings, Lu kept her confidence up. With every failure she had ultimately made, the succubus would just continue to instill self-assurance upon herself, before repeating the steps in the cook book that she had asked from Rena. The elf lady was their main source when it comes to cooking food and other meals, so it was no surprise to seek advice from her when it comes to culinary matters.

Of course, advice can only take you so far from one person. So the succubus commanded her ever-so obeying butler, Ciel, to give her more knowledge about baking. It's not that he had no choice; it's just that Ciel would rather bake for Lu instead of letting her ruin the entire kitchen with her rampant failures. Of course, Lu would completely shrug her flops and mishaps off since her confidence was always overflowing when it comes to her hand-made goodies. The only problem for her butler was, well… Ciel had to put his health on the line just to be the taste-tester for his succubus' baking skills.

His stomach endured her awful pastries for the first few rounds, but it soon took a toll on the blue haired butler as there was no change to Lu's kitchen skills. Drawing the last straw, Ciel had to retire for the night and relieve his stressed stomach in the comfort room for god knows how many hours, leaving his succubus all alone in the kitchen. She figured she had given him a bit too much of her "delicious" sample treats, so Lu let him be and decided to continue mastering the arts of baking a single pastry for the rest of the night, sacrificing her supposed sleep time for the sake of this tedious task.

From dusk became dawn, Lu had finally accomplished the one thing she had been doing. She had to put faith and believe in her sweet tooth in order to truly get the sweetness that she needed for flavor of the cake. For so many times, she had practiced decorating cakes as she waited for the cake to rise in the warm comforts of the oven. Although she had made batches of failed cakes before, she had never gotten a chance to deck them with icings due to Ciel's taste buds disapproving the flavor. But now, since the cake tastes doesn't taste extremely bitter, crispy or burnt in her mouth, Lu can finally coat her perfect creation with chocolate icing since the receiver loves that certain flavor a bit too much.

After settling a few hours, and unintentionally sleeping again for the wait, Lu finished decorating the now beautiful cake, much to her delight. Yawning a bit due to her weary mind, she gave the final touches by placing the pastry in a rather simple but nice box that's fitting for the gift. With everything done and her efforts now satisfied, the young lady placed it on the fridge for it to cool down. As she was ready to vacate the place to clean herself up, Ciel appeared at the entrance to check on his queen.

And sure enough, he wasn't surprised that the place was a complete mess. He waved his head gently before grabbing a cup of coffee to fill some clarity and some needed energy to start his day off, before cleaning the pile of chaos that's everywhere in the kitchen. Of course, Lu had to order him about it before she left the area. Even if she didn't instruct him to do so, he'd still end up doing it since he doesn't want his queen's reputation get tainted because of her sudden fondness for baking.

After all, he still has to yet to know why she single-handedly made a cake.

Wearing her alluring white and blue attire with her confident smile complementing her overall appearance, Lu walked her merry way towards a certain door with a box occupying her hand. It took her a few minutes to sanitize and prepare herself since she was too excited of what's to come. She could already see the look of the receiver's face once that person tastes the perfection that she had made. Lu was feeling confident. Well, too confident if one might say. But if someone were to ask Ciel about it, he would casually tell that it's her normal behavior to put an assertive appearance, despite having the occasional embarrassing moments every now and then. A Queen exudes that kind of aura, after all.

As Lu approached the closed entrance, she was met with another ravishing female of the El Search Party that's also standing by in front of her destination. Her eyes were closed due to her merry thoughts, so she didn't expect to see someone when she opened her eyes for a stop.

"Ah, Lu. Greetings, what brings you here?"

The strong feminine voice acknowledged Lu's presence as she stared at the succubus with a short smile. Lu simply gazed with a beaming grin.

"I should be asking you the same thing. Don't you have a duty in Velder with Elsword?" She was too happy to notice that Elesis struggled to come up with words that would explain why she was here. She managed to respond with clarity, however.

"I've taken a leave of absence to take care of Add and let Elsword take care of the red knights for today." Elesis' serious expression hid her true intentions well, but Lu's expression slowly withered to a serious one as she heard her statement. A scowl replaced her previous smile as she stared at Velder's pride from head to toe.

"… is that so? Well, sorry to tell you but I will be one taking care of Add." She boldly stated as she intently stared at Elesis. The red haired knight blinked a bit in surprise from the tone and the change of expression that Lu had displayed. Nevertheless, she tried to assess the situation in a calm manner.

"I-I see. I'm truly sorry but I was the one who came here first. So if you'll excuse me…" She reached for to grab the door knob and did so successfully. However, she met Lu's hand halfway, reaching to a moment where they had both grabbed the door knob. Elesis' expression changed to a serious one as the two had stared down with their eyes in silent conflict. She tried to twist the door knob, but the woman in front hindered her with her own hand in the way.

"Lu… let's not make trouble out of this." She calmly said despite her serious expression. Said person glanced at Elesis' other hand that was also occupied before giving her grim gaze.

"Yes, so would you kindly step away then?"

The red knight's brows scrunched down a bit. "Lu, let go."

"Not if you let go first."

Lu grimaced as they continue to throw a stare down contest while holding onto the door knob for El knows how long. She should've expected that Elesis of all people would come here to visit the sick person of their group since she was the only person that had always tried to make Add open up to the el search party. She was always there when most of the group had given up on Add. But now that Lu had been interested and invested some of her time for the mad child, it seems that they were bound to clash in some way or another.

"EEK!"

As they continued the dead lock, a shriek suddenly echoed inside Add's room, momentarily shocking the both of them. Lu and Elesis unknowingly took off their grasps at the door knob as they contemplated what that screech was. As they did so however with the help of the silent atmosphere, they slowly heard murmurs beyond the door. With their curiosity begging to be satiated, the two pressed their ear towards the door to better hear what was going on inside.

"Look what you did! You spilled it all over me. Uh, now I'm all sticky."

The two looked at each other in confusion as they heard a feminine voice whining. As far as they know, this is Add's room.

"I warned you, didn't I?"

"Hmph… we're doing it again!"

The voices stopped as a series of shuffle and groaning commenced past the doorway. For a moment, their thought process sparked as they comprehended what has been happening inside the room. Add was occupied with someone else. And that someone is a female... a female that isn't Lu or Elesis.

…

With their eyes blinking in realization and their faces slowly turning into a crimson hue, they quickly summoned their weapons and demolished the door into chunks and bits of wood before rushing into the vanguard.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!" The two shouted in both panic and anger. As the dust and debris cleared, the image in front of them became clearer. For a moment, however, they blinked in disbelief as they saw who the female was.

"Aisha?"

The female who was straddling the resting Add on his bed was no other than the purple magical girl with a spoon of liquid syrup on her hand and a bottle of medicine on the other. She turned her head towards the sudden commotion that Lu and Elesis' had done, which surprised her all the more since she hardly knew that they were about to visit Add. The white haired man however, just gave his own two cents with his annoyed expression. He clearly didn't like his condition, much less his situation with these three girls at the moment.

The girl in question sweat dropped and chuckled nervously upon seeing the cold gaze from both the blue succubus and the velder prodigy. "H-hi~ I didn't expect t-that you two would c-come in here…" The two just crossed their arms in reply, their anger slowly reaching to a boiling point.

"Care to tell us why you're here, purplette?" Lu sneered along with her questioning gaze. As much as Aisha hated how Lu addressed her, she tried to come up with an excuse in her mind.

"Ahaha… y-you see, uhm… would you believe me if I explain?"

Elesis shook her head dismissively in response. "Please stop m-mounting Add, his condition is not well right now."

Aisha's eyes widened for a minute before hastily getting off of Add's waist, much to the boy's relief as he sighed. Her face turned red from embarrassment shortly after. "R-right… so why are you two here?"

"It's unwise to dodge a question, Aisha." Lu summoned her spear with her free hand. "Now answer the question."

"Eh? No need to be so aggressive now…" The purple magician summoned her staff in defense, but it seems as though the two ladies in front of her weren't listening anymore as they both prepared their weapons.

"Taking advantage of Add's condition, how dare you…" Elesis murmured as pointed her blade towards Aisha. "And to think that you were invested towards my little brother…"

The purplette clamped her mouth shut in concern as the two advanced towards her, preparing herself for the upcoming assault. But as Elesis was about to swing her sword up and Lu about to javelin her spear onto Aisha, everything stopped for a moment.

Add stood up and stretched his limbs before yawning tiredly. He then sighed as he hovered himself towards the broken door, passing through the three girls that were currently like mannequin dolls that had their weapons swung up in the air, suspended. "I thought by being sick, people would f-cking leave me alone…" He grumbled before exiting the room for a few minutes, before going back with a new person in tow.

With a flick of a finger, Add continued the flow of time in his room… while the person beside him just blinked in shock, dropping the pot she was holding before screaming at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

The supposed sounds of metal clashing stopped as the trio inside the room turned to face where the voice came from. Their current expression quickly faded to fear as they realized who it was.

"R-rena?"

"Here I was, busy preparing something for Add to eat… then all of a sudden the three of you are fighting inside house premises?"

Rena impatiently tapped her foot while staring at the trio who were currently sitting beside each other on the couch, avoiding the Elf's cold gaze in all sorts of way possible. After the small fiasco, Rena had "calmly ordered" them to go to the living room for interrogation. Add was currently on the other side, his bored expression complimenting his sigh. The silence was so far comforting for him though.

"So… any one of you want to tell why you were bothering a sick person?"

Aisha fidgeted, Lu turned her gaze elsewhere and Elesis whistled out of the blue. Avoiding seems to be their only response, so Rena examined their appearances shortly before discovering something. She walked towards the three and stared for a moment, before reaching down to grab some things from Lu and Elesis. The two grew agitated after seeing their gifts getting stolen, but were helpless as Rena moved back with the two items in her hands.

"What are these?"

Lu and Elesis quiver in panic and tried to come out with some excuse in their mind. However, as soon as Rena examined the items, it was too late for them to say something that would hide their true intentions.

"For… Add?" Rena mumbled as she saw a note attached to both the coffee and the box of cake. She turned her glance back towards the two upon realizing what they were. "Did you two made these for Add?"

There was no point in hiding it anymore. With a defeated sigh, Lu and Elesis nod in response. Rena's expression quickly faded as she smiled a bit in turn. "That's very thoughtful~" She then handed the goodies to Add, which somewhat peeked his interest as he opened the box with ease. Lu quickly realized that Add was about to taste the cake she had made, causing her to grow restless in anticipation.

"Add, do you need a utensil for that?" Rena asked as she saw him unbox the cake. Said person only spoke with a simple "no" before astonishingly cutting the cake with the use of an unknown and unseen force before taking the slice of cake into his mouth.

As Add bit a portion of it and chewed, Lu felt like time had stopped for her as Add grew silent for a moment. But when the white haired man finished the slice of cake, a smile formed in her face in relief after. She couldn't help but be glad for seeing him like what she made.

Once he was done, he took a sip of the coffee which Elesis had made. Thankfully, Add wasn't very hard to please when it comes to coffee as he exhaled in pleasure upon drinking coffee. The red haired knight smiled and nodded to herself in victory. Victory wasn't always this sweet, she thought. Seeing as how the two were happy, Rena glanced towards Aisha… who was silently sulking from the situation.

"Add told me you were trying to make him drink medicine, Aisha?"

Her thoughts were drawn to a halt as her name was called, blinking back a few times before answering. "Y-yes! … unfortunately, he ended up spilling the liquid onto my clothes because he was resisting."

"You should just give Add some soup next time, I'll teach you how~" Rena assured her with a smile, which seemed to work as Aisha smiled back happily from the response of the elf.

"Thanks Rena~!" Said woman just smiled further as Aisha suddenly rose up and went to the kitchen eagerly. It seems that she wanted to give Add something for today as well. She turned to face the happy faces of Lu and Elesis.

"As for you two…" Their trances broke as the serious tone of Rena's voice compelled them back to reality. "I'm forbidding you two to go near Add for destroying his door."

"WHAT?!"

The two screamed in surprise upon hearing Rena's judgment. "You heard me, you destroyed Add's door. There's a punishment for breaking something that isn't yours."

"But it was just out of anger!" Lu protested while Elesis backed the succubus' statement.

"S-she's right! It was just a sudden burst of emotion due to confusion."

However, none of their statements breached Rena's conclusion. "Still, you shouldn't have knocked down his door because of some false information in your mind."

Lu couldn't help but pout. "B-but… fine… how long does it last anyway?"

"Until such time that the door is completely repaired, you two will not be going near to his quarters." She quickly added. The two perpetrators couldn't help but get sad all of a sudden. Weird enough, it was a cue for Add to go back to his room as he stood up and walked towards Rena.

"I'm going back…"

"Oh…" Rena gently took of Add's hoodie for a moment and ruffled his hair. "You go get some rest now, okay?" She smiled before kissing the white haired boy's forehead lightly, to which Add didn't budge or cared about… though it was not a pleasant sight for the two ladies who were on the couch.

As she gently took her hand off his head, Add opened a small portal that led him back to his lovely confinement before closing the portal. Rena sighed in relief as she saw the white haired boy vanished in an instant, before looking back to Lu and Elesis with a short smile.

She noticed their resentful gazes and jealous expressions as they both crossed their arms in dismay, which confused the Elf as she raised her eyebrow in concern.

"… what?"


End file.
